Franchise Associates, Inc. (An Alternate Howard Johnson's)
The Howard Johnson Company, known as Franchise Associates, Inc. from 1986 to 2007, is the parent company of Howard Johnson's among others. Founding By 1985, Howard Johnson's was a struggling company, mainly with its restaurants, with its lodging chain making more money. All seemed lost, until the franchisees formed a company, called Franchise Associates, Inc., and bought both chains, having originally considered buying just the restaurant chain, in early 1986. Early history & rapid expansion The first restaurant to be owned and operated by FAI was in Canton, MA., which was a prototype location in the late 1940s. They decided to update the location a bit in 1990, with a new logo, and added an exaggerated pointed arch entryway. The interior kept its furniture, but added TVs and photos of older locations. Also, they tweaked the menu a bit and, seeing that competitor Baskin-Robbins had 31 flavors whereas HoJo's had 28, decided to add ten more flavors, including six vegan options, to make it 38 flavors. FAI convinced not just existing franchisees to add the arch, but also enticed new franchisees to join the chain. They even brought back Simple Simon and the Pieman, who had been introduced in the 20s, but dormant since the 70s. The motor lodge chain went back to having an A-frame gatehouse and had four floors on the hotels. FAI had suceeded in regaining HoJo's former luster, and by 1995, had over 10,000 locations. Primestar Acquisition In March 1994, FAI acquired the satellite TV service Primestar. The deal was considered big, mainly because FAI focused on food and lodging, while Primestar, as said before, focused on TV. By 1996, all TVs in the restaurants and motor lodges switched to Primestar. Today, Primestar is considered the best satellite TV service, with the highest customer satisfaction. Modern History Wendy's Acquisition On June 11th, 2005, Franchise Associates, Inc. announced they were purchasing the entire Wendy's brand from Triarc Companies, Inc. The acquisition of Wendy's made Franchise Associates the second largest fast food parent company, behind Yum! Brands, who in this timeline also own the McDonald's name in Japan, the United Kingdom and Taiwan under an agreement with the McDonald's corporation (this was so they could remain ahead of Franchise Associates). Burger King in the UK & Ireland Franchise Associates decided that with their new Wendy's acquisition, they wanted to do a little more expanding. Franchise Associates, Inc. formally bought the rights to the Burger King name in the UK & Ireland from TPG Capital on September 21st, 2005, expanding their influence and edging out Yum! Brands for the title of largest fast food parent company. Competition Franchise Associates, Inc. faces very close competition from the powerhouse Yum! Brands who own KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. The two companies constantly swap which is the largest fast food parent company; the title can change hands weekly. Franchise Associates also faces considerable competition from the McDonald's company. 2007 Rebranding In February 2007, parent company FAI rebranded themselves as The Howard Johnson Company, after the parent company of HoJo's from 1925 to 1985. HoJo's also formed an airline, Howard Johnson's Airlines, two years later.Category:An Alternate Howard Johnson's